Stefanos Makris analyzes the national team’s loss against Canada with the help of Hudl Instat. Kaleths, Walkup and the Canadian combined for a +18 of the starting five -25, 4 in a formation with Papanicolaou and Cy Gilgeous-Alexander.
The National team Defeated against Canada Losing 79-86 in the opening game of the Olympics.
Greece found themselves even in the -16, but they battled back and got as far as -2, but eventually lost, and now focus on matches against Spain and Australia.
The Sports 24 Hudl analyzes the failure of the national team with the help of Instat.
Bullying by the Canadians with pressure on the ball and Calathes’ -25 – walkup
This was highlighted in Canada’s analysis On the perimeter the national team will suffocate the ball defense of the opposition. Lou Dart is a player who signed a 5-year, $82.5 million deal with the Thunder a few years ago because he can do it optimally. And he was the one who started the Canadians’ bullying with ball pressure on Kalatz and Walkup.
The Thunder guard (as well as Gilgeous-Alexander, Barrett, Alexander-Walker) doesn’t accommodate the Greek perimeter. Suffocating pressure on the ball, Greece decided to screen a player in front of the center to bring it down. This usually means that Greece started to slow down its systems. Then the rest of the problems started.
Canada is one of the best teams in the world at closing gaps with their perimeter size and athleticism. When he finds a team with one or two mediocre-to-bad shooters, things get choked up. Here is an example:
Giannis tries to post Alexander-Walker and the whole defense closes in on him as Greece have Kaladis and Walkop on the weak side. Calathes cuts to pull a defender onto him.
Giannis tries to drive to the basket with the entire Canadian defense closing in on him, resulting in a pass for a walkup.
Walkup airballs a three-pointer.
Greece had two guards with average shooting (Galathis, Walkop) on the floor at the same time. According to Hudl Instat, it cannot be considered a coincidence that Kaladis and Walkup, Greece, were on the ground at 11 minutes and 10 seconds, as these two guards were on the ground at the same time. +/- setting was -25. In total, Greece +18 in the remaining 28 minutes and 50 seconds (when one or both of the two are off the court)!
Placing the blame solely on Kalathi and Walkup seems heavy handed. Basketball is a team sport. On the other hand, however, it was clear that they could not successfully coexist on the floor in this game, as they have the same shortcomings (mediocre shooting, inability to move after dribbles or attack vertically towards the basket). If your two starters combined for 8 points in 2/11 shooting, you can’t get lucky against this Canadian.
Calathes and Walkup have shown that they can coexist. But what many feared showed up against Canada: against sports teams, closing the gaps, their coexistence is difficult. It’s no coincidence that the top five Canadians (Gilgeous-Alexander, Dart, Barrett, Brooks, Powell) were at +18 at the start of the first and third periods (ie vs. Galatis and Walkup). +/- setting.
Back with Papanicola at 4 o’clock with Gilgeous-Alexander perimeter and clutch balance.
According to Hudl Instat, Vasilis Spanoulis used a total of 24 different fives against Canada, while none were on the floor for more than 4.5 minutes. Of course, 5 of them stayed on the ground for 4 seconds or less, that is, they lived together in special conditions. This doesn’t change even if the game searches. With Kostas Papanikolau at power forward next to Giannis Antetokounmpo, Greece’s top five turned the match upside down.
This season, Papanikolaou has spent a lot of time in the power forward position at Olympiakos and has been good. His size, his basketball IQ on defense and offense, his good shooting, all play a part and it showed yesterday (7/28). However, at the same time, Vasilis Toliopoulos (+8 participation in the system +8 in 19 minutes, the best in Greece) and Giannoulis Laurentzakis (+6 in 19.5 minutes, second best) should not be. Underrated. According to Hudl Instat, Greece was +11 in the 13 minutes and 38 seconds the two were together.
Regardless of their numbers and playing styles, Laurentzakis and Toliopoulos have two things in common: they threaten from the perimeter and — more importantly — they don’t hesitate to do so. An opposing defense is forced to tackle them. The duo combined to make 3/14 shots (2/11 three-pointers). But they set the pace for Greece, who opened up spaces for Giannis Antetokounmpo as Canada had to deal with them.
With Papanikolaou, Toliopoulos and Lourentsakis at his side, Giannis was at ease… Giannis found ways to get Greece back into the game. That’s when the national team missed an opportunity to put more pressure on Canada, who missed a big shot that could have pressured the opposition.
Cy Gilgeous-Alexander hit that big shot in the final to seal the win for the Canadians, 78-82. The Thunder star is one of the best one-on-one players in the world. With this, he hurt Greece throughout the tournament, thereby ensuring victory for his team in the final.
He’s had good times and bad times, and he’s focused on Spain
The match against Canada showed many things for the national team. However, at the same time, this is not a game that represents imitation. Spain and Canada, who will be the second opponents on July 30, have nothing to do with each other. He has experience, but he lacks the size and athleticism of the Canadians in the region, who knocked Greece out of the game.
Many may feel that the game against Canada showed that Walkup and Calathes cannot coexist. But just as previous games are not a sure sign that success can be achieved, a poor result is not necessarily the opposite. However, of course, Canada highlighted some problems.
Greece had its good and bad moments against Canada. The question is what will he do next? A win against Spain is a one-way street. Everything else will be discussed later.
The director of SPORT24, Pantelis Vlachopoulos is based in Lille and follows the course of the national basketball team at the Olympic Games together with PPC.